Yusuf Pathan: Lucky to have a skipper like Gambhir

Kolkata batsman Yusuf Pathan on Friday praised his captain Gautam Gambhir for supporting him during his struggling days. The big hitter scored an unbeaten 49 to help his side thrash Rajasthan by eight wickets on Friday also winning him the Man of the match award.

"I am fortunate to have a skipper like Gambhir. He has been a constant source of support for me and continuously backed me when I was not performing well. He has handled me well," said Pathan.

Yusuf also thanked his family, specially mentioning younger brother Irfan, for encouraging him when he was going through a lean patch.

The fiery batsman has scored only 128 runs in 10 innings and was happy that he was able to finish such an important game for his side. "I am satisfied to have scored runs for my side, especially after being able to finish the game and win it for my team. Good to see everyone happy when I score. Today I had a lot of time to bat, which gave me confidence to play well. It was an important match, needed to win it and we did it," he said.

"I am not bothered that I could not score a fifty today. I am more satisfied with the victory, rather than being disappointed at missing out on a milestone. A 49 for a wining cause is always better scoring big runs but ending up as losers," he added.

Kolkata registered their fourth win from 11 games and now are at the seventh position in the points table. Yusuf also said that he hoped this latest triumph would turn things around for them and get them a feeble chance to progress to the playoffs.